Page 74 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

He just hoped if she had, she knew enough never to tell Val. He had a feeling she’d only take so much teasing from her baby sister.

Chapter Eighteen

* * *

VAL WOKE UP later to pounding on her front door and practically fell out of bed, reaching for her robe with angry jerks. Stomping down the hall to answer it, she swung the door open with a bark.

“What?”

Her father looked furious and perfectly groomed as he shoved his phone in her face. “Do either of you know what the word discretion means?”

Val squinted at the screen and saw a picture of Justin leaving the house. Taking the phone, she saw it was posted on the Rock Canyon Press Web site and shook her head with a smile. That Miss Know It All was sure good at her job.

“This is not funny, Valerie. It’s one thing to have a fling with him while you’re on vacation, but to do it here . . . it’s humiliating.”

“Not for me.” She hadn’t even looked at him when she’d responded, but she could feel the waves of rage intensify, and she didn’t care. She was too busy studying the picture of Justin. The angle of it was weird, like it had been taken from the side of the house, but she didn’t have any neighbors. She scratched her head as she tried to make out the headline.

A Hot Marine and the Wrong Willis Sister

The wrong one?

She started to read the article and chuckled out loud.

Well, folks, seems like Justin Silverton’s recent chivalry paid off, but not in the way we thought. The hottie with a body was spotted early this morning sneaking out of Valerie Willis’s home, and although the youngest Willis sister is reportedly staying there, we all know she was elsewhere last night. Which leaves only the recently divorced and fabulously scandalous Valerie. Another tip had both Justin and Valerie MIA over the weekend, and reliable sources placed them at the Steakhouse last night for dinner. So what do you think of the newest Rock Canyon opposites? Comment below!

“Well, I’ll say this for her: she’s scary good at her job.”

Her father wasn’t amused and grabbed the phone from her outstretched hand. “And as if your disgraceful behavior weren’t enough, I had to see this too.”

He swiped the phone’s screen and flashed her a picture of Ellie in a major lip-lock with a guy Val didn’t fully recognize.

“Okay, so you woke me up to tell me again how awful and disappointing we are? What else is new?”

“It’s Sunday and, rebellious actions aside, I figured the best thing to do was be seen in God’s house.”

“In case you missed the memo, I have no interest in being seen anywhere with you. You have little to no respect for me, and frankly, I don’t have much for you either.”

“Despite our current grievances, it’s important to show a united front. If I want to be ready for the senate, I have to gain the trust of the citizens of Idaho. I need my daughters’ support.”

Val resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The only time her father used church was if it would help him look good. There were years in her childhood when she hadn’t even set foot into a church unless it was for political or social gain.

“And I’m thinking sleep sounds like a better plan.”

“Valerie,” he said, his tone softer, “it’s not that I don’t respect you. It’s that I want what’s best for you. I mean, do you really see yourself spending the rest of your life as a farmer’s wife? Not to mention his father’s alcoholism; a predilection for addiction runs in the family.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Val snapped. “You don’t care about anyone but yourself, so don’t try to pull the concerned-father bit with me.”

Her father’s pleasant expression melted into a dark scowl once more. “Fine, you don’t need me or my advice. Go tell your sister to be ready in fifteen minutes.”

“Tell her yourself,” Val said, stepping back to let him in. She shut the door behind him and went to the guest room, knocking. “Ellie, Dad’s here.”

There was a crash and some rustling before Ellie peered out of a crack in the door. “Daddy? What are you doing here?”

“Get dressed. We’re going to church.”

“Seriously?” Ellie groaned before her eyes flicked toward Val. “All of us?”

“Your sister no longer considers herself part of this family.”

---